1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tool attachments and, more specifically, to a quick release lock for blades mountable to a motor driven rotary tool. The quick release blade lock comprises a tool mount, blade retainer and lock ring.
The tool mount has a planar body portion with a right angle collar extending from the planar body portion. Interior threads in the collar bore allows the tool mount to be threadedly attached to the threaded drive of a motorized tool. Exteriorly, the collar has several helical channels and rails that form a mounting for the blade retainer having complementary channels and rails.
The tool mount's planar body portion has a front and back side with the front side having a plurality of peripheral longitudinal receptacles with one end of each receptacle terminating in an upward slope to the planar body surface.
One of the receptacles extends through the planar body forming a recess with an upward slope having spaced transverse ridges that lockingly engage corresponding transverse ridges positioned on the slope of the lock ring's cantilevered latching tabs so that when mated together the lock ring can not be detached from the tool mount until a force is applied to the lockingly engaged cantilevered latching tab where then the lock ring can be disengaged from the tool mount.
In use, the lock ring is not singularly mounted to the tool mount but is used in combination with the blade retainer to secure a blade between the two components so that when the blade-retainer/blade/lock-ring assembly is mounted onto the tool mount one of the lock ring's cantilevered tabs will seat into the tool mount recess where the ridges of the tool mount slope and cantilevered tab slope will lockingly engage.
The blade retainer has a front side and a back side with the front side also having a plurality of peripheral longitudinal receptacles with one end of the receptacles upwardly sloped. The back side has a right angle collar with interior channels and rails that are mateable to the channels and rails of the tool mount collar. Also provided are a plurality of blade mounts with each mount having a post-like tab with a terminal flange extending from the blade insert. The tabs will seat into corresponding lock ring receptacles having an interior lip so that when a blade is mounted onto the blade retainer the post-like tabs are then inserted into the lock ring's receptacles so that the blade retainer's tab flanges latch onto the lock ring's receptacle lips forming a blade-retainer/blade/lock ring assembly that can be easily mounted and dismounted from the tool mount.
The lock ring has a front and back side with a plurality of peripheral apertures correspondingly positioned to receive the blade retainer's post-like tabs so that when the tabs are seated within the lock ring apertures the lock ring and blade retainer are securely fastened together. The lock ring also provides a plurality of peripherally positioned cantilevered tabs spaced above the planar back surface of the lock ring. The cantilevered tabs comprise a sloped portion and a longitudinal portion with the upper surface of the slope and longitudinal portions having spaced apart transverse ridges. As aforementioned, the transverse ridges of the lock ring's sloped portion will lockingly engage the transverse ridges of the tool mount slope when the blade-retainer/blade/lock-ring is mounted onto the tool mount. The back side of the lock ring, which engages the blade has a plurality of nubs that serve as frictional elements.
In operation, the tool mount is threadedly attached to a motorized tool having a threaded drive so that blades having the blade retainer and ring lock attached thereto can be easily mounted and dismounted from the tool mount.
A user provided blade having a bore and radial apertures is enabled to be used on the tool mount by positioning the blade retainer on one side approximate the blade bore and positioning the lock ring on the opposing blade side wherethen the post-like tabs are inserted into the lock ring receptacles fixing the blade between the lock ring and the blade retainer.
The quick mounting and dismounting of a blade incorporating the blade retainer and lock ring is accomplished through a slope of the mating channels and rails that only requires about a 30 degree turn or a twelfth of a turn to mount and dismount the invention enabled blade from the tool mount without having the need for tools or the dismounting of the tool mount from the motorized tool's threaded drive.
The present invention further provides that the tool mount and blade retainer can be used without the blade lock to quickly mount and dismount a blade from a motorized tool's threaded drive without the need for fixedly positioning the user provided blade between the lock ring and the blade retainer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other fasteners which provide for locking a blade to a tool. While these fasteners may be suitable for the purposes for which they where designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
It is thus desirable to provide a quick release blade lock having a motorized tool drive mounting portion incorporating a collar whereby a user provided blade having a bore is placed onto said collar then the blade retainer having interior bore channels and tracks is mounted onto the tool mounting portion also having a collar with exterior channels and tracks mateable to the channels and tracks of the blade retainer.
It is further desirable to provide a lock ring portion having front and back side with a plurality of peripheral receptacles correspondingly positioned to receive the blade retainer's post-like tabs so that when the tabs are seated within the lock ring apertures the lock ring and blade retainer are securely fastened together.